Tecno Camon 30 review: You will love the camera (2024)

Tecno has been on a roll lately, launching a number of phones in India. Just last month, it released the Pova 6 Pro 5G, perfect for those who crave high performance. Now, they've introduced the Camon 30 series, ideal for anyone wanting a great camera phone without breaking the bank.

Though Tecno unveiled the more premium Camon 30 Premier from this series at MWC 2024, its vanilla variant Camon 30 has finally hit the Indian market. The standout feature of Camon 30? A 50-megapixel camera packed with AI capabilities. I even tagged it along with me on a safari in the jungles of Jim Corbett and got some really good nature shots. But you don't just buy a phone for its camera right? And that is why I made this phone my primary for a few weeks, put it through its paces to see how it stacks up in overall performance and honestly it didn't let me down. But before I dive more into the detailed review, let's take a quick look at the specs.

Priced starting at Rs 22,999, the Tecno Camon 30 5G boasts a 50-megapixel primary rear camera with OIS, a 50-megapixel selfie camera with autofocus, and is powered by the Dimensity 7020 SoC. It comes with up to 12GB RAM, 5,000mAh battery, and supports up to 70W fast charging.

Looking at the specifications, the phone looks decent, however, with a budget of around Rs 25,000, the Tecno Camon 30 5G gets into tough competition with brands like Vivo, OnepLus Oppo and others. So is it worth buying? Well that depends on a couple of things. Let me detail.

Cool design sturdy build

Tecno is marketing its Camon series around its camera capabilities, and the design of the phone reflects this focus. The Camon 30 features a design reminiscent of a traditional DSLR, with a large dial - housing three camera sensors and an NPC sensor. It also includes a flashlight and a red dot LED which turns on when you get a notification in the device or if the video camera is on. Although you can turn the functionality off at any time. The phone comes in two colour options, black and white, and I reviewed the black variant.

I am genuinely impressed with the fresh new design. These days, brands are working hard to introduce appealing and unique designs, and Tecno has managed to keep up with the aesthetics. Despite being an under Rs 25,000 phone, the Camon 30 feels quite premium for its price . The phone has a glass back with marble design and the overall build feels sturdy. The big round camera dial looks sleek, and the glass back enhances its durability with IP53 splash and dust resistance. While the design is impressive, the phone also feels comfortable to hold. It is neither too light nor too heavy and does not put strain on the hand in longer use.

On the top and bottom, you will find a Type-C charging port, stereo speakers, a microphone, and more. The front of the phone features a punch-hole cutout for the front camera, and the bezels are quite thin, giving it a modern look. Overall, I'm really impressed with the design-it's fresh, looks good, and perfectly complements its camera-centric aesthetic.

Vibrant and smooth display

The Tecno Camon 30 features a 6.78-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The display is large and vibrant, offering 1300 nits of brightness, which makes it bright enough for both indoor use and outdoor use under direct sunlight.

While the device's colours lean towards a cooler tone, the display does not feel oversaturated and provides good viewing angles. I watched Netflix, YouTube, and various online content, and the display managed to clear crisp and vibrant picture quality throughout.

With its 120Hz refresh rate, scrolling is smooth with no noticeable lag when switching between apps, opening them, and more. Tecno's HiOS 14, based on Android 14, offers a range of customizations like cute videos for the always-on display, which I found fun to use and gave a personalised touch to my experience. Plus, the fingerprint sensor and face unlock features are also smooth and responsive.

Good performance great battery

The Tecno Camon 30 runs on the MediaTek Dimensity 7020 processor. Although this processor isn't new - given that there are phones like the Motorola G64 at a lower price segment, which I recently reviewed, that use the MediaTek Dimensity 7025 -the 7020 still performs well and handles basic daily tasks on the phone smoothly.

I used the Camon 30 extensively for internet surfing, social media, YouTube, Netflix, some casual gaming, and other daily apps, and it managed to keep up without any noticeable lag, even with multiple tabs open. However, the phone isn't built for high-performance tasks like Call of Duty or high-end gaming. When I tried Asphalt 9, there was a bit of lag. Similarly, in Call of Duty, the frame rates were inconsistent, hovering around 60 fps, and there were instances where the screen froze for a few seconds. Despite these issues, I didn't experience any overheating problems.

The phone runs on Tecno's HiOS 14, based on Android 14. While the OS offers a similar Android experience, there are a few differences that might not appeal to everyone. For instance, swiping right on the home screen opens a widget window, inspired by iOS UI, instead of the Google News tab. Additionally, there's a share news tab when scrolling down.

Another point to note is the pre-installed apps from Tecno, which take up memory. While these aren't gaming or sponsored apps, some of them are from Tecno itself. Most of them I didn't like, and although some can be deleted, others can only be disabled. There's also a significant number of pre-installed apps that can't be deleted, only disabled, which can be more clutter than useful.

One app I did find useful is the Ella assistant, powered by OpenAI's ChatGPT. This chatbot is helpful for features like translation, getting details, and other AI-powered tasks.

Regarding network performance, I used my Airtel 5G SIM and didn't face any network issues. Calls were clear and audible, with no problems. Other connectivity options like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC also worked without issues.

As for audio, the Camon 30 has dual speakers powered by Dolby Atmos. However, the speakers were a mixed bag. At high volume, the audio squeaks and feels a bit distorted. While the volume is high, the overall audio quality is just average.

Battery is a highlight of the Camon 30. With normal use, the 5000mAh battery lasted a full day, and even a day and a half with standard use. Even with heavy use, like hours of streaming and some gaming, the battery managed to last through the day. Charging is also decent, with the phone going from 0 to 100 per cent in around an hour and a half.

Camon 30 gets the camera right

If you've come this far, you can tell that I really liked the design, though the performance was a mixed bag. But the camera? Well, I loved it. I took the Camon 30 with me on a jungle safari to Corbett and captured some amazing nature shots. The images had a natural tone, were clear, and even close-up shots of trees were Instagram-worthy. Let me dive into the details.

First, the camera offers a 50-megapixel rear camera that quickly captures photos with good details and sticks to natural tones. I was really impressed with the portrait mode; the blur effect was edge-to-edge, and it felt like I was using a high-end phone. The front camera, also 50 megapixels, clicked highly detailed shots with excellent portraits in all lighting conditions.

Even in night mode, while not perfect, the Camon 30 managed to capture good details without distorting the final images. The camera app includes some fun features like sparkle and sky effects, making photography more enjoyable. The video quality is also stabilised, sharp, and offers natural colours.

However, the camera app does not offer a wide-angle option, which was a disappointment. As someone who loves taking wide-angle photos to capture more of the scene, not having this option was a letdown. Apart from this, there wasn't much else to criticise in the camera department.

Tecno Camon 30 review: Should you buy it?

So, the question now is: Is the new Camon 30 worth buying? Absolutely. It's a solid all-rounder with a fresh design, a big and bright AMOLED display, a fast processor, a great camera, and long battery life. It offers strong competition to its rivals. I really liked the camera. It offers well-detailed images with natural colours and more often than not it won't let you miss the more premium phones in the market. Having said that, the Tecno Camon 30 does feel like a work in progress in some areas. The phone's UI is loaded with pre-installed apps. The performance of the phone has some caveats and video viewing experience on the Camon 30 is also compromised due to its sub-par speakers.